Knife for producing waffle and lattice cuts

Abstract

A integrally-formed knife for producing thick waffle-cut and lattice-cut potato slices has a blade and a shank extending rearwardly from the blade. The blade has opposing inclined surfaces which meet at a forward blade portion to define a thin corrugated cutting edge. Each blade surface has undulations defining a set of alternating grooves and ridges each extending rearwardly from the cutting edge and terminating at the shank. The relative inclination of the blade surfaces results in progressively greater blade thickness at a rear blade portion such that the blade is relatively rigid and self-supporting. This eliminates use of clamps on the opposing blade faces and consequent interference by clamps with slicing. The sets of grooves diverge relative to one another adjacent the rear blade portion where their bottoms are spaced in a direction transverse to the blade surfaces. The shank is unobtrusively connected to the relatively wide rear blade portion between the bottoms of rearward ends of the grooves. The shank has apertured mounting tabs extending laterally beyond either side of the blade to permit mounting in a conventional rotary-type potato slicer.

The embodiments of an invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 
     
       1. A knife for use in producing waffle-cut or lattice-cut slices of potatoes or other foodstuffs, comprising a rigid blade having opposing blade surfaces meeting at a forward blade portion to define a thin corrugated cutting edge, each of the opposing blade surfaces having undulations defining a multiplicity of alternating elongate grooves and ridges each commencing at the cutting edge and extending rearwardly from the cutting edge to a rear blade portion spaced from the forward blade portion, the opposing blade surfaces being generally inclined relative to one another such that the thickness of the blade increases continuously from the forward blade portion to the rear blade portion; said opposing surfaces as measured in longitudinal planes containing said ridges associated with one said surface converging on approach to said cutting edge at a different rate to said opposing surfaces as measured in longitudinal planes containing said ridges associated with the other said surface.   
     
     
       2. A knife as claimed in claim 1 comprising a shank extending rearwardly from the rear blade portion and attached to the rear blade portion between the opposing blade surfaces, the shank having opposing shank surfaces each meeting a different one of the opposing blade surfaces, each shank surface being so inclined relative to the blade surface met by the shank surface that rearward ends of the grooves of each blade surface are directed outwardly of the shank. 
     
     
       3. A knife as claimed in claim 2 in which the blade is integrally formed with the shank. 
     
     
       4. A knife as claimed in claim 3 in which one of the opposing blade surfaces and the shank surface met by the one of the opposing blade surfaces are generally convex in side-to-side cross-section and the other of the opposing blade surfaces and the shank surface met by the other of the opposing blade surfaces are generally concave in side-to-side cross-section. 
     
     
       5. A cutting knife as claimed in claim 4, wherein said opposing surfaces measured in longitudinal planes containing said ridges associated with said convex surface converge at a greater rate than said opposing surfaces as measured in longitudinal planes containing said ridges associated with said concave surface. 
     
     
       6. A knife as claimed in claim 1 in which the corrugations of the cutting edge have a peak-to-peak amplitude of at least about one-eighth of an inch. 
     
     
       7. A knife for use in producing waffle-cut or lattice-cut slices of potatoes or other foodstuffs, comprising a rigid blade having opposing blade surfaces inclined relative to one another and meeting at a forward blade portion to define a thin corrugated cutting edge having corrugations of a predetermined peak-to-peak amplitude, each of the opposing blade surfaces having undulations defining a multiplicity of alternating grooves and ridges commencing at the cutting edge and extending rearwardly from the cutting edge to a rear blade portion, the opposing blade surfaces diverging generally and continuously relative to one another from the forward blade portion to the rear blade portion such that the rear blade portion has a cross-sectional thickness between the opposing blade surfaces of at least about the peak-to-peak amplitude of the corrugations each opposing blade surface having an angle of divergence which is measured along the ridges associated with each said surface, the angles of divergence differing from each other. 
     
     
       8. A knife for use in producing waffle-cut or lattice-cut slices of potatoes or other foodstuffs, comprising: a blade having forward and rear blade portions;   a shank extending rearwardly from the rear blade portion;   the blade having opposing blade surfaces meeting in angled relationship at the forward blade portion to define a thin corrugated cutting edge, each of the opposing blade surfaces having undulations defining a multiplicity of alternating grooves and ridges commencing at and extending rearwardly from the cutting edge and terminating at the shank, bottoms of the grooves of one of the opposing blade surfaces diverging relative to and being spaced in a direction perpendicular to the blade surfaces from bottoms of adjacent grooves of the other of the opposing blade surfaces adjacent to the shank;   said surfaces as measured in longitudinal planes containing the ridges and grooves associated with one said surface converging on approach to said cutting edge at a greater angle than said surfaces as measured in longitudinal planes containing the ridges and grooves associated with the other said surface.   
     
     
       9. A knife for use in producing waffle-cut or lattice-cut slices of potatoes or other foodstuffs, comprising a rigid blade having opposing blade surfaces inclined relative to one another such that the blade is generally thicker in cross-section at a rear blade portion than at a forward blade portion, the opposing blade surfaces meeting in angled relationship at the forward blade portion to define a thin corrugated cutting edge, each of the opposing blade surfaces having undulations defining a multiplicity of alternating grooves and ridges commencing at the cutting edge and extending rearwardly from the cutting edge to the rear blade portion, each of the grooves of each of the opposing blade surfaces having a bottom, the bottom of each groove of one of the opposing blade surfaces subtending an angle of convergence towards the bottoms of adjacent grooves of the other of the opposing blade surfaces at the forward blade portion and subtending an angle of divergence relative to the adjacent grooves at the rear blade portion said angle of convergence adjacent the cutting edge of said knife as measured in planes bisecting said grooves being greater for grooves associated with one said surface than for grooves associated with the other said surface.